Pep Guardiola has called Luke Shaw one of his favourite players after the Manchester City manager watched Manchester United’s youth final from the Joie Stadium and saw Shaw, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount in the stands for a 2-1 defeat.
Guardiola did not hide his admiration when asked about United. He said United always plays really good, then added that he was happy to see Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox in the stands, describing Wilcox as having done an incredible job in the academy and calling Berrada the right-hand of Ferran Soriano. In the same answer, Guardiola singled out Shaw, Fernandes, Mount and manager Michael Carrick as top-class figures at the club. For Shaw, the praise lands in a season that has looked like a turning point after years shaped by fitness problems.
That matters because Shaw has been through far more difficult chapters. Over the two seasons before this one, he played only 27 games. His career has been interrupted repeatedly since a serious leg break against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League more than 10 years ago, an injury that changed the way every spell of consistency has been judged. This season, though, he started all 36 of Manchester United’s Premier League games, a level of availability that has been missing for most of his time at Old Trafford.
Shaw’s role has also shifted with the team around him. He was used as a left centre-back in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system before moving back to left-back after Michael Carrick was appointed. That flexibility has helped United keep him involved, but it has not settled the longer question over how the club want to use the left side of the pitch going forward.
United are expected to address that area this summer. The club are looking to revamp their left-hand side, and they have been linked with Iliman Ndiaye and Morgan Rogers as possible reinforcements on the left wing, while West Ham’s Malick Diouf is also said to interest them. Shaw’s contract runs to 2027, so any move in that area would not be about replacing him overnight as much as reshaping the balance around him.
That is the tension at the heart of United’s planning. Shaw has delivered a full league season and won praise from one of the game’s most respected coaches, yet the club still appear ready to spend on his side of the field. If he can carry this form into next season, he gives United a reliable starting point. If he cannot, the summer search for help on the left may end up defining how the club judges his future.
